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By Dan WhitcombREUTERS • Saturday October 19, 2013 9:23 AM

An online video of a Boy Scouts of America leader knocking over a 170-million-year-old rock
formation in a Utah state park has touched off worldwide outrage, state officials said yesterday,
and the two men involved might face charges.

The video was posted on YouTube showing scout leader Glenn Taylor dislodging the massive rock
from its tiny perch in Goblin Valley State Park. Fellow scout leader Dave Hall films him while
singing and laughing. Taylor’s son is seen standing by watching.

“We, we have now modified Goblin Valley!” Hall shouts into the camera. “A new Goblin Valley
exists with this boulder down here at the bottom!”

The rock formation, known as a “goblin,” dates to the late Jurassic era and is one of many that
give the desert park a surreal appearance that draws visitors from around the world.

The video has been viewed more than 1.4 million times since it was uploaded to YouTube by the
Salt Lake Tribune newspaper on Thursday. Fred Hayes, Utah State Parks director, said his
office has been inundated with angry calls and emails.

“Literally from around the world,” Hayes said. “Folks who have either been there (to Goblin
Valley State Park) or even just seen pictures of it. The Southwestern desert has a lot of appeal
for a lot of people, and they are just outraged.”

Hayes said authorities first became aware of the video when a visitor posted a link to it on the
state parks website, asking if such activity was legal. Prosecutors in Emery County will determine
if charges will be filed, he said.

The two scout leaders told the
Deseret News newspaper that they toppled the boulder because they thought it posed a
danger to children who might be walking by — an explanation that the state parks director greeted
with some skepticism.

“Neither one of us were out there intending to do illegal activity,” Hall said. “It just made
sense to us at the time — remove the danger so that we don’t have to hear about somebody
dying."

Hayes said park rangers walk through the valley daily and had never considered the boulder a
danger, noting that it took considerable effort for Taylor to shove it over.

A Boy Scouts of America spokesman said the organization was reviewing the matter and would take
appropriate action.

“We are shocked and disappointed by this reprehensible behavior. For more than a century, the
Boy Scouts of America has been a leader in conservation — from stewardship to sustainability,” Boy
Scouts spokesman Deron Smith said.